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Andretti Autosport has opened a 40,00 sq. ft. facility in Silverstone as they continue their push to join F1.
The American racing giants were denied entry on the grid by the FOM (Formula One Management) last year as the latter believed that Andretti wouldn't be adding any value to the sport and diluting the pot of prize money distributed to the ten teams.
Despite the rejection, the American team hasn't given up on their belief in joining the sport as evidenced by their investment in Silverstone. They formally opened the new facility in Silverstone with 80 people in the UK workforce.
Speaking with Sky Sports, Michael Andretti said that it was essential for them to have a presence in the UK as most F1 teams are based in the country. He said (via The Race):
"It's very important to have a presence here because this is where a lot of the brainpower for building Formula 1 cars is here in England.
"The next step is to keep going and building the team, we've got a lot of work to do yet. We already have a lot of great talent but I think there's a lot of other great talent out there that I'm hoping we'll be able to recruit."
Andretti targets 2028 to join F1 with General Motors
Michael Andretti has said that General Motors was currently in the middle of developing an engine as FOM had said that the offer of them joining the grid would be more attractive with an engine.
As quoted by Sky Sports, Andretti said:
"They [General Motors] are currently building an engine. They are already registered to do it. So we will have an engine in '28, but obviously, we need to build to get there.
"To just, all of a sudden, show up in '28 with a new engine and no team, we need two years to build there to get there that when we do get our own engine the team's ready to go and be competitive. So we are not naive in any way in that way."
Andretti has received a lot of support from F1 fans and pundits alike, who are in favor of having an 11th team on the grid to give more opportunities to talented drivers across the world.
It would be fascinating to see if the steps taken by the American racing giants help change FOM's decision in the future.
